Exclusively in Europe, can one enjoy a café on a 500 year old cobblestone street in the shadow of a massive cathedral that took 250 years to build. (I use the word ‘exclusively’ because ‘only’ already belongs to “OIC”—“Only in China” … but that’s for another post). Exclusively in Europe was that same street built by the Roman Empire, having changed hands numerous times before arriving under the sovereignty of its modern nation. Exclusively in Europe can countries’ differences be so stark and their similarities so common. That’s EIE. The Old World. Where Western civilization started. It’s a unique, enchanting place. But…

Going off the beaten path, one is sure to discover the same phenomena that can be found anywhere else on the planet. I had some cheese and salami with a baguette on a bench in a nondescript plaza today, and I witnessed the same things I’ve seen on 4 other continents. Parents supervised their toddlers running around playing. People walked their dogs, and all sorts of mayhem broke out. Apparent friends went for a walk together after work, catching up on their week. Others wandered alone, deep in thought. These things occur everywhere else, because, at our core, we are all the same: we are all human. Many cultures own dogs as pets. All cultures have children, and all those children play.

Each continent, each country, each city, and each neighborhood has its own individual culture. But from a wider perspective, we all go about our lives. Everywhere is unique, and yet we can generally be found doing the same activities. EIE is special—but on a literally universal scale, so are we, taken as one.